Not Your Average Cookout

My meal for the class would consist of homemade chicken wings, mac n’ cheese, caprese, and guac and chips for an appetizer. Yes, I know, this is one crazy mixture of food, but this is a classic meal that we have at home in the summer for large groups of people. Everything about this meal is out of this world. The chicken wings are small, but still meaty and dusted with a paprika chipotle seasoning. They are shock in a brown paper bag filled with the seasoning until the whole wing is covered and the more seasoning added the better. Then the mac n’ cheese isn’t just any normal Kraft mac n’ cheese. It is penne pasta noodles covered in cheddar, provolone, and gruyere cheese. It is an unbelievably rich dish but one that’ll have you coming back for more. Then the caprese, arguably my favorite part of this meal, is covered in balsamic vinaigrette, salt, pepper, and oregano. The key to this dish is serving the tomatoes slightly chilled. It makes the dish much more flavorful and very refreshing. Last but not least, the chips and guac. Chips and guac can be as easy as going to the store and buying Tostitos and packaged guac, but you want get anywhere close to the same experience. The chips need to be covered in lime and sea salt then placed in the oven for ten minutes to make them extra crispy. Then the guac is a mixture of avocadoes, medium spiced chipotle salsa, garlic powder, and oregano. I promise that this will be the best guacamole you’ve ever tried. To cook this meal, I’m going to need to spend a lot of time at whole foods as I can get all the ingredients there. One long trip down briarcliff and an hour later, I’ll be goof to go.

            Now, this is not exactly an easy dish to prepare, so It’s going to take most of the day to get ready. The kitchen in my dorm hall is not nearly big enough or capable enough of preparing this meal so I’ll have to use a friend’s apartment to get it ready. The wings take several hours to prepare as they need to be slow-cooked in low heat on the grill. We’ve found that this adds the most flavor to the meat. Then, once you can see the juices dripping from the wings, throw them in a brown paper bag and cover them in the paprika chipotle seasoning. For the mac n’ cheese, it is pretty simple. We layer the dish in penne pasta noodles, spread the three cheeses over top then repeat one more time so there are two layers to the dish. This is a very easy dish to prepare. To cap it off (explained the chips and guac above), I will slice heirloom tomatoes and add about a half inch slice of fresh mozzarella cheese and then proceed to cover it in balsamic vinaigrette, olive oil, salt pepper, and oregano. After probably four or five hours, the dish will be ready to go.

            As for the price of this meal, it may add up a little bit. The price of the chicken wings varies seasonally and based on the location. Back home, the chicken wings are locally sourced making them less expensive. For the mac n’ cheese, I’m estimating that it’ll add up to about $30 as I imagine it’ll be quite the hit amongst everyone. The caprese will also be about the same price as fresh, locally grown tomatoes tend to be a bit more expensive. Same goes for the guac, it is important the avocadoes are fresh; it makes a huge difference in the taste of the guac. With all the Chips included, I imagine this dish will add up to roughly $20-$30. Then, including the chicken wings, I estimate that I’ll be looking at a meal slightly under $130. However, it will definitely be worth it.